Guest Blogger Livingstonia - Sangilo on the Lake

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Tues 29 May

Headed north along lakeshore and then inland up a 15km horrendous rough and steep road climbing 1500m to Livingstonia - site of the Scottish Mission founded by the Scotsman Dr Robert Laws. Stayed overnight at the ‘Mushroom Farm Lodge’ - a small backpacker lodge with 1500m vertical views. Local lads guided us to a waterfall with a cave behind where people reputedly hid to avoid paying taxes. Not being too keen on heights I chickened out and left Tamsin to the locals - personally I would rather have paid the taxes than have hidden there

Wed 30 May

Wandered around Livingstonia - looked like a cross between a ‘model village’, an army base, a council estate, and a posh public school. All neatly laid out with a huge church, a hospital, a college and a university. Located there by the missionaries to get away from the lakeside malaria and nowadays everyone (except us) walks there up the 15km steep rough road.

So we drive back down the 15km (me driving now so a few squeaks from Tamsin when I go too close to the edge) and along the shore of Lake Malawi to another ‘backpacker lodge’ - Sangilo Sanctuary - run by a guy with a strong Newcastle accent whose wife worked locally as a doctor. I say ‘backpacker lodge’ as they only charge £10 or £20 but it would be £100 or £200 if moved to Mediterranean with a few refinements (such as mains electricity). We had the place to ourselves - perfectly adequate thatched huts, private beach, passable food, and bottled drinks. Most places in the sticks had variations on solar panels, and even those with mains electricity (in or out of towns) suffered continual power cuts. Hot water often provided by simply lighting a wood fire under the water tank !

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